John Bowen Synth Design

New OS Update - v1.4.3

New OS Update - v1.4.3

Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:04 pm

by John Bowen

Released today, v1.4.3 OS fixes a few small display things, and adds two new features:

1) Sample Load routine - Instead of loading samples from the System page, as we have done, now the loading is done within the Preset, on Home page 3, parameter named 'SmpPool'. Each preset can now store the sample pool being used. Then, if the user wants to have each preset automatically load the appropriate sample pool when selected, you can set the System page parameter 'LoadSamp' to On, and Save it there as part of the global init file. If this is set to Off, then the user must go to the Home page #3 and press Enter to load the pool. If several presets call up the same pool, the system checks and knows this, so you don't have to load again. Also, it can take quite some time to load the preset in this case. For example, to load the factory Glockenspiel pool takes about 6 seconds.

2) Added a new function, calling it 'Patch Chain'. This appears on Home page #3 as well, in the top row, labeled as 'Patchain'.

Here's the idea - if a Preset has Patch Chain set On, then each of 5 Presets will be loaded into the DSPs, starting with the one farthest away from the selected preset.This means you can have 5 different sounds, one for each DSP, with 2 voices per sound (remember, the 6th DSP is used for the Master FX).

For example, if I have this parameter On for Preset 100, the first preset loaded will be 104, then 103, 102, 101, and lastly 100. That way, Preset 100 is the one that is being displayed on the front panel. However, any edits to any parameter will then go to all 5 Presets. (If you then go to store an edit, it only knows to do that to the current Preset.)

The sequence does not wrap around, i.e., if Preset 125 has Patch Chain On, it can only load 3 of the presets. The selected Preset (the last to load) goes to all remaining DSPs in this case.

How is this useful - with the Sequential 6Trak and Multi-Trak, I could make 2 Unison stacks of 6 different sounds on one key, and you could get some pretty big Unison sounds this way. Another thing I've liked with this is to have the 5 presets similar enough, but with small variances in tuning, cutoff, etc., to give an even more 'analogy' feel or sound. The voices are selected in a 'round robin' mode usually (depending on the Legato and EGReset modes), and so by repeatedly hitting a single key, you can hear each of the 5 DSPs playing 2 voices each per preset.

Obviously, this takes so forethought and planning, and isn't for everyone. Also note - loading 5 DSPs separately takes slightly longer when selecting the Preset.

I hope Solaris owners enjoy these two added features. I am looking forward to more developments in the near future.

-John Bowen

Re: New OS Update - v1.4.3

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 1:32 pm

by amongstmyselves

Wow ! This is interesting stuff. Thank you John.

Re: New OS Update - v1.4.3

Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 1:44 pm

by minorguy

Hopefully you don’t mind if I throw in a couple more details.

Sample pool loading:

The function of the “LoadSmp” parameter in the System page changed since the previous version. Previously, if enabled, it would automatically load the first sample pool right after the Solaris booted up. But it doesn’t do that anymore since it’s not really necessary. Instead it’s now a global switch to enable the automatic loading of sample pools when presets specify it.

When the “SmpPool” parameter is set to a pool number that's not already loaded the Enter LED blinks to indicate that pressing Enter will load the pool. The LED doesn't blink when "SmpPool" is set to a pool number that's already loaded or to None.

It’s up to you to ensure that the sample number you specify in the preset’s “SmpPool” parameter corresponds to the correct sample pool file number. So if you were to rearrange the order of sample pool files, you’d need to also modify the “SmpPool” parameters in your presets and re-save the presets. The Solaris doesn’t currently have any automatic way to maintain a connection between presets and sample pools.

The above item also means that if someone shares a preset with you that includes a sample pool, you may have to renumber it if it has the same number as a pool you’re already using. You would need to (1) rename the sample pool file, which is no different than you’ve had to do before, and (2) update the “SmpPool” parameter in the preset to refer to that new number.

Patch chain:

As stated above, when patch chain is enabled for a preset, that preset plus the next four presets are loaded into the Solaris, each one into a different DSP. If PlayMode is set to Poly, then when you play a note there’s no way to know which voice will play and thus which sound will play. It depends on how new voices are assigned and stolen.
However, if PlayMode is set to Poly and Legato is set to Reassign, playing the same note re-uses the same voice. So in that case the same sound will be heard. So if you’re trying to create variation when playing the same note repeatedly you may want to set Legato to Off.

As John said above, if you make any edits to a patch chain preset, the changes are applied to all loaded presets. But when you save it, those changes are only saved to the first preset (The one that has the patch chain parameter On). If you want to edit any of the four following presets, you need to load them individually, make the edit, and then save them. Then go back to the first preset and reload it again. In other words, the Solaris never saves more than one preset at a time.

When loading a patch chain, if any of the four following presets also have the patch chain parameter set to On, it’s ignored and has no effect.

Re: New OS Update - v1.4.3

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 3:59 am

by gundorf

It would be very nice to have a little demo to demonstrate the patch chains !

pleeeaaaase

Re: New OS Update - v1.4.3

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 9:54 am

by John Bowen

Just create 5 presets in a series that have notably different sounds, then go to the first one and turn on the Patch Chain parameter, then save that preset. When you recall the preset, it will take a bit longer to first load, but you will note as you select different keys you will hear 2 voices each of 5 different sounds. The other thing would be to set the first preset to a “Unison mode using ALL voices, then you can have 5 different sounds all stacked on one key.

The other idea is to take one preset and copy it into the 4 locations following it, then go to each one and make some variations, then go back to the first one and re-save it with Patch Chain On. When you call up the preset and play chords, you can get something more like the old Oberheim synths that used separate modules for each note.

Re: New OS Update - v1.4.3

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:35 pm

by chapolin

"The other thing would be to set the first preset to a “Unison mode using ALL voices, then you can have 5 different sounds all stacked on one key."

I just tried this (with Legato set on Reassign) : it work very well and with this feature it is possible to create fat sounds but also very complex unison sounds !!! It is possible to create a sound with 20 different oscillator ... i am right ?

The other idea is to take one preset and copy it into the 4 locations following it, then go to each one and make some variations, then go back to the first one and re-save it with Patch Chain On. When you call up the preset and play chords, you can get something more like the old Oberheim synths that used separate modules for each note.

It is so interisting also but need more work to use it ... I did not try.

So now, if it is possible, for a future update it would be so nice to be able to choose the 5 different sounds not necessary following each other but in different places of the presets. But I imagine it is a lot of work to allow to choose these different sounds, maybe it will require a special page in home with the key touch ?

Anyway thank you so much for this feature

Re: New OS Update - v1.4.3

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:55 pm

by John Bowen

Each preset has 4 oscillators, so if you mean 20 oscillators (actually 10 pairs of oscillators) playing 5 different presets, you would be correct.

As for different preset that are not in order - yes, this will be possible with the future “multimode” I would say, but that is still in the works.